British Sitcom History Podcast

Writer David Scott has just released a new book looking at the career of Caroline Aherne so we got him into the virtual studio for a discussion. We go on at length about how much we love The Royle Family but also take on Mrs Merton, The Fast Show, The Fattest Man in Britain, and Dossa and Joe.

Caroline Aherne: Rebel in Disguise is available in all good book shops, and some bad ones as well.

Released in 1974, the Man about the House film drops right in the peak of seventies Britcom film spin-offs. Usually that means reworked material and a few pairs of Bristols but that's not what we get here. Join us on a journey of discovery to see Robin and Chrissy getting closer than ever before and a deep dive on the history of Hammer Films.

It's part 2 of our look at Man About the House and this week we're focusing on Richard O'Sullivan and what happened as the series progressed. In a fairly unusual move for a sitcom, the show has a definitive ending, not that we necessarily like where it goes. We address the "Norman Eshley problem" and have a side by side comparison with the American remake, Three's Company.

Now in video! We're back and it's a soft relaunch as we go full time into the sitcom game. We start up with an absolute classic of the early seventies in Man About the House. Ostensibly about the absolute scandalous idea of two birds living with a fella, the series soon becomes a will they/won't they between Robin and Chrissy, played by the sitcom powerhouses of Paula Wilcox and Richard O'Sullivan.

Here we make a close inspection of Paula Wilcox's career and get stuck into the writers, Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. But will we appreciate the outdated political ideas and double denim on show? How many times will we accidentally say Ronnie O'Sullivan? Watch and find out!

Allen has been to see the latest sitcom related stage show - I'm Sorry, Prime Minister. An updated look at the characters from Yes, Minister, the play is written by the show's original creator Jonathan Lynn and stars Griff Rhys Jones and Clive Francis.

Is it a faithful addition to the canon or a Fawlty Towers style cash-in?